Physician views regarding the benefits and burdens of prenatal surgery for myelomeningocele.
OBJECTIVE: Examine how pediatric and obstetrical subspecialists view benefits and burdens of prenatal myelomeningocele (MMC) closure. STUDY DESIGN: Mail survey of 1200 neonatologists, pediatric surgeons and maternal-fetal medicine specialists (MFMs). RESULTS: Of 1176 eligible physicians, 670 (57%) responded. Most respondents disagreed (68%, 11% strongly) that open fetal surgery places an unacceptable burden on women and their families. Most agreed (65%, 10% strongly) that denying the benefits of open maternal-fetal surgery is unfair to the future child. Most (94%) would recommend prenatal fetoscopic over open or postnatal MMC closure for a hypothetical fetoscopic technique that had similar shunt rates (40%) but decreased maternal morbidity. When the hypothetical shunt rate for fetoscopy was increased to 60%, physicians were split (49% fetoscopy versus 45% open). Views about burdens and fairness correlated with the likelihood of recommending postnatal or fetoscopic over open closure. CONCLUSION: Individual and specialty-specific values may influence recommendations about prenatal surgery.
Duke Scholars
Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Risk
- Pregnancy
- Pediatrics
- Pediatricians
- Obstetrics
- Neonatologists
- Meningomyelocele
- Maternal Death
- Male
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Risk
- Pregnancy
- Pediatrics
- Pediatricians
- Obstetrics
- Neonatologists
- Meningomyelocele
- Maternal Death
- Male